I think my favorite part of this gif is Robbie trying really hard not to laugh along with Jonah.
Oh, yeah, and it's a shame that this movie is terrible.
It's also a shame that Guardians of the Galaxy did the cosmic space adventure stuff already, because an FF movie done in that vein really could have done a lot for the FF brand in film. Just a whole movie with the FF exploring some crazy space anomaly (not necessarily Galactus or the Silver Surfer, but hell, why not?) could have been awesome. I'm not saying that they can't do that because GotG did it, but you know how persnickety people get about "copycats."
I think the IP can be salvaged still. I just think they need to completely forgo another reboot, and just slip them into an existing property, whether X-Men, or giving the rights back to Marvel to have them slotted into the MCU at some point. Then maybe, maybe, try another stand alone movie.
I always thought January Jones would have made a really good Sue Storm, with Aiden Gillen as a perfect, older Mr. Fantastic. I actually liked Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm, and Chris Evans as Johnny. I haven't decided who a replacement Johnny Storm could be. Maybe the guy from Teen Wolf? Dylan O'Brien?
I was just thinking of this the other day and I kind of feel that maybe Marvel Studios wanted Guardians of the Galaxy to play as their Fantastic Four, similar to how The Inhumans will be analogs for the X-Men/mutants.
It's not a complete 1:1 analog for FF but besides serving as a way to introduce more far out cosmic ideas, they play as more of a makeshift family than, say, the Avengers do as a team. Even some of their personalities and dynamics on the team could be seen as similar to the FF.
If they ever actually brought FF to the MCU, I think they'd have to emphasize other elements like being more ordinary people with extraordinary powers. The Incredibles really did do a good job of capturing the "superhero family" idea and there still is some great material to mine from that premise but they'd have to sell the characters and how they interact more than the premise alone.
Also, even though the GotG have served as a window to the cosmic universe and introducing a lot of that, the FF could still serve as the people on Earth who are involved with that stuff, who are the first who would get the call, and who would be more knowledgeable about space threats.
I think many people feel that the FF's rogue gallery is more valuable than FF themselves, but if you bring them in, they have to serve a purpose. Personally, I think if they take the angle of pulpy 1960's inspired sci-fi adventures, there is still a goofy-but-fun angle Marvel still has yet to fully utilize in the MCU. I thought they might try to do that with Ant-Man's "Astonishing Tales" origins and powers but it didn't really happen. There were elements of AoU that made me feel as if Whedon's intentions were to make a pulp Silver Age story in modern times but if that was the intention, it seemed to be completely lost on the majority of people. While CA:TFA embraced some of the more pulp elements, especially in the tone of certain scenes, I generally don't think they went for too much of that since they still wanted it to play as serious when Captain America comes to the more "gritty" present.
If Fantastic Four went full-on pulp, even if it wasn't set in the 60's, and allowed the adventures to really seem "fantastical" and sci-fi, I think it can be fun and comic booky without being seen as too corny and campy. Men In Black is a decent reference point for how to approach the concept.
